The FIM and its Women in Motorcycling Commission (CFM) have been working hard to get more women to take part in Road Racing. Only one and half years after launching a project to help women to train and compete in the sport, the results are very clear and promising.
The year 2015 will be a big stepping-stone for the FIM`s Women’s Road Racing project with plans to stage more training camps and more competitions for female riders. The CFM will continue its fruitful co-operation with BMW and Bike Promotion.
"I am extremely excited to say that we will be organising the first 2015 FIM women´s Road Racing training camp in Almeria, Spain on 9-11 of February”, says Nita Korhonen, Director of the FIM Women´s Commission. “We are currently negotiating the possibility to have some camps outside Europe as well.”
So far, the CFM has organised three training camps in Albacete, Almeria (Spain) and Brno (Czech Republic) with top class instructors. During the last camp at the legendary Brno MotoGP circuit, there was also a mixed race for women and men and the results surprised everyone.
“There were only women on the podium, so of course it was nice to see that!”, says Korhonen. “Now our aim with Bike Promotion is to invest more in these races during the camp so that we can see the pace and level of the girls. This will also make it easier for us to get them into the competitions, when we have some lap times to show”.
Many participants in the FIM RR camps have already gained great opportunities to take part in competitions all over the world. The CFM cooperates with organisers and National Federations, for example the Qatar Motorcycling Federation, and has sent the fastest girls to compete at the FIM Qatar SuperBike Championship at the Losail circuit.
Next year there will be even a bigger opportunity as the FIM Europe Women's European Cup will make its début as part of the Pata European Junior Cup (EJC). Female riders will score points in both EJC and the Women's Cup, with the highest point-scoring female rider becoming the 2015 FIM Europe Women's European Cup winner.
CFM Director Korhonen welcomes these developments: “The début of the Women´s European Cup is absolutely brilliant as we want to see women competing with the men. At the same time we are considering the merits of organising a women only cup or series and trying to find ways to satisfy as many female riders as possible. The fact that in 2015 there will be Ana Carrasco competing again in the Moto3 category in the MotoGP series is fantastic news and shows that women can make their way to the top level of this sport.”
Booking for the Almeria training camp is now open:
www.bike-promotion.com/Event/almeria-e_09-02-2015_11_02_2015-285.html